Preserving tradition, cultural heritage through community cot

Divya Sharma

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Tribune News Service

Amritsar, July 3

For the last 70 years, the Prajapati community in the city is preserving a huge, traditional hand-woven jute cot. Such cots have traditionally been part of the city life, but today these are mostly found placed in art houses and exhibitions, as a representation of the state’s cultural heritage.

The jute cot not only symbolises the Punjabi culture, but acts as a medium to connect various communities at Roor Singh Di Haveli in the city near the Telephone exchange area.

The king-size bed, also known as ‘wang manja’, was placed by the then head of the community, Roor Singh, for recreational purposes for the Prajapati community. Later, it became a popular meeting point of the area. The wooden cot is 16-feet long and 12-feet wide supported by four wooden pillars from sides. There are certain rules to use the bed.

Daulat Ram, an aged community member said, “This bed is important to us, we want to maintain its sanctity. No one is allowed to drink here or indulge in any kind of drug abuse. Also, people are not allowed to gamble here. One has to remove shoes before sitting on the bed.”

Members of the community insist that in spite of the availability of plastic beds, they will continue to go the traditional way. Tarlochan Singh said, “This will always be a jute bed (‘wang manja’). We want to carry forward our rich culture for the future generations.”

It takes nearly Rs 11,000 to repair it whenever the need arises. The money is contributed by community members. The community claims that despite the prevalence of other forms of recreation such as social media and television, the younger generation is attached to the community bed, for it provides a sense of togetherness and inculcates communication and bonding with fellow men.

Gurdeep Pehalwan, head of the Prajapati community, said, “If someone wants to build this kind of bed, it will cost nearly Rs 2 lakh. Anyone can come here and sit. It’s a tourist attraction too.” The community members are mostly involved in menial jobs.